Dee and Charles Wyly To Give $500,000
To U.T. Dallas’ Center for BrainHealth

DALLAS, Texas (April 17, 2002) - Dallas
philanthropists and civic and business leaders Dee and Charles Wyly will
give $500,000 to The University of Texas at Dallas’ nationally acclaimed
Center for BrainHealth, which is part of UTD’s School of Human
Development. The check will be presented at a reception Monday night at
the home of Darlene and Baron Cass.

Dee Wyly serves on the Leadership Council of the Center for Brain
Health, which is one of the few facilities of its kind in the United
States. U.T. Dallas has made a major commitment to research and training
in the area of cognitive neuroscience. As a result of that commitment, the
Center for BrainHealth was created in early 1999 to bring together
researchers and clinicians to integrate cutting-edge brain research with
clinical interventions and provide innovative programs and treatment for
individuals with brain injuries, progressive brain diseases such as
Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s and natural aging. The center currently is in
the midst of a $6.2-million fundraising campaign, which was kicked off at
a reception Feb. 11 at the Wylys’ home. The campaign will run through
2004.

UTD neuroscientist Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman, director of the center,
said the Wyly gift is the largest private gift the center has received to
date. She said the goal of the campaign is to serve more individuals
afflicted with brain injury or brain disease and to build a clinical and
research facility that can house all of the center’s programs. The center
currently is located at UTD’s Callier Center for Communication Disorders
near downtown Dallas.

“The Center for BrainHealth is doing outstanding work that may lead to
important breakthroughs in treating brain injuries and diseases,” Dee and
Charles Wyly said in a joint statement. “We are pleased to be able to do
our part on behalf of a great cause.”

UTD President Dr. Franklyn Jenifer said he was “deeply appreciative and
honored” by the Wylys’ gift.

“Charles and Dee Wyly are both such giving people, and I can’t thank
them enough for this very tangible demonstration of their generosity,”
Jenifer said. “We are very proud of the work being done at the Center for
BrainHealth, and we are delighted that two of Dallas’ greatest benefactors
have decided to support it.”

Dee and Charles Wyly have been involved in a wide range of
philanthropic endeavors and have contributed to such causes as social
services, churches, schools and universities, cultural activities and
health care institutions. In addition to serving on the center’s
Leadership Council, Dee Wyly is a member of the President’s Advisory
Committee on the Arts. She also serves as a board member of Kidney Tex.,
Inc., Kick Drugs Out of America and Anderson Ranch Art Center in Colorado.
Charles J. Wyly Jr. is chairman of the Communities Foundation of Texas. He
co-founded and is chairman of Michael’s Stores, Inc.

The Center for BrainHealth is on Inwood Road in Dallas, adjacent to
major medical facilities such as The University of Texas Southwestern
Medical Center at Dallas, St. Paul Hospital and Parkland Hospital. The
center integrates research, treatment, academic training and community
outreach. Through this innovative approach, the center is discovering
commonalities across brain maladies that are yielding similarities in
brain repair mechanisms resulting in new treatments for improving life for
patients with brain injuries and diseases.

For more information about the Center for BrainHealth or the
fundraising campaign, please call 214-905-3007.

About UTD

The University of Texas at Dallas, located at
the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the
complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the
Telecom Corridor, enrolls more than 7,000 undergraduate and 5,000
graduate students. The school’s freshman class traditionally stands at the
forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The
university offers a broad assortment of bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral
degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the
university’s web site at www.utdallas.edu.